Blood on the Water
by Comingsummers
Summary: Loki is sent back to Midgard for SHIELD to punish as they see fit, but they don't want him. In a desperate move Fury sends him to a secret place in Northern New Mexico, to a woman with a dark history and scars that will never heal. She has what Loki needs to escape this world, but she may not be willing to give him what he needs, even when the world depends on it. No TDW.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

On Halloween day 2005, a freak storm struck the area near Silverton, Colorado, killing seven people, and destroying an area over half a mile in radius. NOAA stated that until ten minutes before the storm erupted there had been no clouds in the area, and they had no explanation for the anomaly. The storm consisted of massive clouds that drenched the area in over two inches of rain in less than half an hour, and more lightning strikes than were ever recorded before, or since. Though the storm lasted only 33 minutes, NOAA recorded over 12,000 strikes, all of which impacted the relatively small area. At the height of the storm over ten strikes per second connected with the earth, demolishing everything they touched. As abruptly as the storm appeared it disappeared, leaving devastation and death in its wake.

The low death toll of seven was due to the fact that the area was largely uninhabited; being farmland with only two homes. Both of the homes were completely destroyed, killing all the occupants, except one. She was found naked and weeping over the corpse of a child killed by the storm. She was completely unhurt, and had never met the child.

It was discovered later that she had been held in one of the destroyed homes for over four years, where she had been a slave to the men that owned the small farm. She had also witnessed the death of 12 other women during that time; being the only living witness to the madness of the men that died in the storm. The corpses of the other women were found where they had been buried in an alfalfa field near the house, the high winds associated with the storm having unearthed them.

The officers and social workers that interacted with the surviving woman all stated that her time in captivity had left her insane. Cold and distant, incapable of interacting with people in a normal way. All of their reports agreed that she blamed herself for the storm, and her guilt was immense, though they had no idea why she would feel that way. She was found on her 19th birthday, though in one of the reports it was stated that she appeared to be far older.

Her head social worker took notes during the meeting where she had to notify the woman of the death of her parents in a freak car accident six months prior. She took the news as she had nearly everything else; completely emotionlessly. The only time they ever witnessed varied emotion from her was when they found her over the child's body. After that she never showed fear, joy, sorrow, or anything beyond guilt. No one could understand what she was guilty about, since she was the one that had been held captive for years.

Once the brief investigation of the men that had held her was concluded, and she had collected her inheritance, she seemed to disappear. Court records showed a purchase of eight-hundred acres in her name, and then there was nothing.

The people of Silverton were grateful for her sudden departure, not feeling as the professionals did about her. They believed she was to blame for the storm, though they couldn't explain why. When asked, they simply explained that her parents had been strange and unexplained occurrences had always followed in the family's wake.

Her head social worker was unable to get thoughts of the young woman out of her head, and out of concern visited the land she had purchased to check in with her. In the notes they wrote about the expedition it was stated that the land seemed uninhabited, and they couldn't find the woman, or any sign of her ever having been there.

That was seven years ago, and no one in the outside world has seen her since.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One – Nothing Left to Say**

_Who knows how long, I've been awake now? The shadows on my wall don't sleep, They keep calling me  
Beckoning... Who knows what's right? The lines keep getting thinner, My age has never made me wise  
But I keep pushing on and on and on and on_

There's nothing left to say now... I'm giving up, giving up, hey hey, giving up now... There's nothing left to say now... I'm giving up, giving up, hey hey, giving up now...

Below my soul, I feel an engine, Collapsing as it sees the pain, If I could only shut it out, I've come too far  
To see the end now, Even if my way is wrong, I keep pushing on and on and on and on

- _Imagine Dragons_

Loki stood bound in chains before the Allfather, awaiting judgment. When he and Thor had arrived in Asgard the previous afternoon he had been promptly taken down to the dungeons and left there for the last 24 hours. He was currently famished, achy, and increasingly furious. When Thor had attempted to start a war with Jotunhiem he had merely received a slap on the wrist, and was then welcomed back with open arms. Loki however, had been beaten to a pulp and brought back in chains. The injustice of it was intolerable.

Finally, he was dragged to the foot of the throne by several large guards and shoved to his knees before the man he had thought of as his father for millennia. He didn't temper his glare as he looked up at the powerful old man, though he fought to hold his tongue. They stared each other down for a moment, and then Odin broke the heavy silence. "Loki, you're crimes against the nine realms are punishable by death." The Allfather paused to let that sink in, and Loki felt his face go even paler as the knowledge that his death could come at any moment entered his clouded mind.

Odin sighed heavily before continuing, "However, I could not pass a sentence of that magnitude on my own son, even if he no longer believes me to be his father. Instead, I have decided to send you back to Midgard to face their judgment. You will be magically bound to Thor's compatriot, Lord Fury, or anyone he passes that power onto. I have made it clear that you are not be killed, however, anything short of that is permissible. If they so desire they can lock you up and throw away the key, or they can make you single-handedly rebuild the city you destroyed."

Loki snarled up at the older man, "Are you mad!? I will simply finish the work I started in that pathetic realm if you send me back there. I will decimate that planet and leave it in ruins! When I went there I simply wanted to rule as a benevolent king, but now I will kill them all, and dance on their bones! So, send me there and know that it is all on you when Midgard is nothing more than a smoking wasteland devoid of life."

Odin looked at him, and some of the power melted from his face, leaving a weary old man where a great king had stood a moment before, but that moment of weakness lasted only a second, then the powerful ruler was back. "You will be unable to do any of those things, Loki. You will be without your magic, and you will be magically bound to the mortals in charge of your punishment. There is no escaping this sentence, my son. I can only hope you will learn from your mistakes in your time in there."

With that the Allfather tapped his staff on the floor and Loki felt the world momentarily shift. When everything was righted, he found himself in the recently repaired Bifrost. It didn't take a genius to know that Odin was about to send him to the hideous realm he had just left, and Loki could restrain himself no longer. Even bound in chains that held his magic back, he was a competent fighter, and he instantly attacked the three guards surrounding him. His fisted hands connected with the small amount of exposed flesh beneath the ornate helmet of the guard closest to him, and then he spun to get the man at his back. His fight was cut short however, when he felt a flash of hot agony in his side. He swayed on his feet for a moment, before falling to his knees, his hands cradling the seared flesh left behind from a shot of energy form Odin's staff.

"Enough!" Odin bellowed. "Stop acting like a petulant child! This is the best possible action for the realms. We cannot afford any tension between us and Midgard. They will be formidable enemies before long, and we may need their help in the future. You will go and repair the damage you did, whether you like it or not."

The Allfather pointed his staff at him once more and the chains disappeared from Loki's wrists. "You are stripped of your powers Loki Odinson Laufyson. You are stripped of your titles, and your claims to any throne. I banish you to Midgard to fulfill whatever sentence they bestow upon you. Go!"

Loki felt another blast of pain, this time in his chest, and then he was hurled into the Bifrost.

* * *

Kiera crouched behind a stand of scrub oak, her arrow trained on a large bull elk. She had been stalking the magnificent animal for just over an hour, and she knew it was nearly time to strike. While she waited for the bull to come out from behind the tree he was grazing around she heard the faint buzzing sound of a helicopter. She let out an inaudible growl and shifted slightly. She needed the meat this elk would provide so she didn't starve during the upcoming winter, but she also knew that if there was a helicopter over her land then it meant SHEILD was paying her a visit.

Now that was something she absolutely detested. Ever since her little _accident_ SHEILD had been hovering around her like a nervous babysitter. They had been waiting for her the moment she stepped out of Social Services custody and had given her a choice. Either buy some land far away from civilization and live her days out there, or go with them to their headquarters and let them try to _fix_ her. While she felt immeasurable guilt for her crimes, she wasn't ready to give her life to their mad science, and so she had chosen a life of solitude.

Her life was not completely devoid of contact with the outside world; SHEILD sent a few agents to check on her a couple times a year, and bring her supplies. While they were a few weeks early for their fall visit, she recognized the quiet hum of their stealth helicopter. She hesitated for a moment, and then shifted her attention back to the bull, letting her arrow fly just as he stepped into the clearing. They could either wait for her, or come find her. Food was too important to pass up.

She watched as her arrow swiftly traveled through the air, her aim dead on, but at the last second the bull darted in the opposite direction, leaving nothing but air for her arrow to hit. She let loose a quiet stream of curses, then slowly strode into the clearing searching for her arrow as well as any signs of blood in case she had in fact bit the beast. She softly cooed over her shoulder into the woods she had come from and a moment later another bull elk stepped into the clearing, this one nearly twice the size of the trophy she had been stalking. He approached her slowly, snorting and pawing at the ground on his way. Though the large animal had been with her since he was only a few days old he still got riled up when she took him out hunting, even if her hunt was unsuccessful as it had been that day. She reached up and gently rubbed the bull's neck to calm him. "Easy, Shadow. It's okay boy, we'll be home soon."

She quickly finished her search of the clearing, finally finding her lost arrow at the base of a large ponderosa pine. There was no blood on the arrow, nor anywhere on the ground, so she gave up hope of getting any much needed meat, and deftly climbed on Shadow's back. Using leg pressure to turn him back the way she had come from, she set out back across the meadow. It wouldn't take long to get back to her small cabin; perhaps a little under an hour if she hurried. Urging the graceful animal into a slow jog she did indeed hurry. Best not to keep SHEILD waiting, she needed more food to be sent for winter after all.

She was surprised to see the man standing in front of her house when she made it back. It had been years since she had seen Director Fury, though he didn't look any different. He stood directly in front of the door, his feet wide and his hands clasped behind his back. She had won a few of his agents over in the years they had been coming to her, but she had never sensed any warmth from the man that commanded the group. She didn't think he was cruel, simply untrusting, and distant.

He stepped toward her as soon as he spotted her exiting the heavy brush surrounding the cabin, "Miss Watson, there is something you need to do for us." She noted that he wasn't asking for her help, instead telling her that she had to help them in a nice way.

"Nice to see you too, Fury. It's been a while. To what do I owe this _honor_?" She didn't mask her annoyance with the man. She knew that many people feared the intimidating director, but she was not one of them. He wielded a great deal of power, but he didn't wield it over her. Not really anyway.

She noticed that his back stiffened at her words, but that was the only outward sign of his displeasure. "Yes, Miss Watson, it has been a while. I apologize for my lack of patience for niceties. We have a serious situation, and you need to play your part."

Kiera laughed humorously, "I thought I was doing my part. I'm staying away from people, just like you told me to. I have been working on my self-control, and I haven't had any incidents in over a year. What more do you want from me? Surely you don't want a loose cannon like myself in your little group of misfits?"

Fury tensed at her words, and clenched his jaw for an instant before replying. "As you probably know, I am not happy to be asking for your help. I don't trust you. However, this world is receiving a little _gift_ in a few hours, and I'm afraid we are ill equipped to deal with him."

Kiera's interest was piqued at the words gift, and him. What on earth could Fury be talking about? "Him?"

"Loki."

Kiera racked her brain for information on the man named Loki. She remembered her mother telling her bedtime stories about mythic men named Thor, and Loki, and Odin, but she rather doubted that was who Fury was talking about. After a moment, she gave up with a sigh. "And who would that be, Director?"

Fury whipped his head around to Agent Hill, "I thought I instructed you to keep this woman up to date on the more pressing matters facing SHEILD."

Hill straightened up and gave Kiera a half-hearted glare. "I've tried sir, but she tends to ignore most of what we tell her. In any case no one has been here since he arrived in New Mexico."

Fury nodded slightly, "Of course, we have been slightly busy the last few weeks." He turned back to Kiera and gave her an appraising look. "You have probably heard of Loki in children's stories. He is from Asgard. He came to earth a few weeks ago and left massive destruction in his wake. He destroyed our New Mexico facility, and half of Manhattan. In the process he killed almost twenty-thousand people, and injured nearly ten times that many." He let that tidbit hang in the air, and Kiera could tell he was waiting for some kind of a reaction, but she refused to give him one. "His brother took him back to Asgard yesterday, but Thor returned a few hours ago and told us that Odin decided to give him back to us for his punishment. We don't want him, but Thor made it clear that we can't refuse this _gift_. We can't be sure we can control him, and we can't risk that in a populated area."

Kiera could see where this was going from a mile away, and she didn't like it one bit. "So you just thought you would bring him out here and leave him with me? I don't think so."

Fury's eye narrowed at her, and he growled almost silently. "We have been assured that he has been stripped of his magic, and that he is bound to serve whomever I choose. Think of him as a very strong slave. I'm doing you a favor by bringing him here."

Kiera chuckled again, though this time she really did find his words to be funny. "For some reason I doubt that very much. If he was nothing more than a strong slave you would make him work for you. Why would you send him here if he wasn't _very_ dangerous?"

Fury glared at her even more, "Fine, I'll level with you. I don't trust that his magic is truly gone. Nor do I think he will follow my orders, even if he is bound to do so. I know he will find the loop-holes in my words every time, and I think eventually his power will come back. Seeing as you are the only…" He trailed off, obviously searching for the right word, "_Person_ with similar powers, I think it would be best if he was paired with someone that could hold their own against him."

Kiera stared at the director for a long moment, her hand absently stroking Shadow's neck. "I see… You think I would be able to _hold my own_ against a man that killed thousands of people? You think that because I accidentally killed seven people I'm on a par with a mass murdering god?"

"Yes."

His simple answer threw her, but she was quick to recover. "Do I have a choice in this, or will you bring him here no matter what I say?"

"I'll be going back to get him in five minutes, and I'll be bringing him here in less than two hours. The only choice you have in the matter is whether you want this supposed control over him or not."

Kiera could feel the electricity flowing under her skin, begging for release, and she could smell the sulfur in the air around her. Her power wanted to come out and play so badly, but she fought to hold it in check. "Fine. Bring him here and leave him for me to deal with. Just know that I don't want him here, and I'm not responsible for what happens to him."

Fury nodded. "I don't think you can kill him, so don't worry about it."

At that he turned and started striding to the black chopper in her yard, his agents trailing behind him. "Oh," she called after him. "I don't want any stupid control over him."

Fury stopped and turned back to face her, "You sure about that?"

Kiera nodded vehemently, "Yeah, I don't force people to do things."

Her unspoken words hung heavily in the air as Fury boarded the helicopter and disappeared from sight.

* * *

Loki glared at the man seated across from him on the helicopter. He reminded him entirely too much of the Allfather. The eye patch would have been enough, but the man's entire countenance was nearly identical. He was cold and distant in the same way that Odin was, and he obviously had too much power. Loki had disliked him when he first met him in the underground facility after coming through the portal created by the Tesseract, but now he absolutely detested him. The only words he had heard from the man were direct commands, and in spite of the fact that he had actively fought to refuse the orders, his body had complied.

And so he found himself seated in one of SHEILD's flying machines, on his way to a place he could only guess at. He had been greeted at his landing site in New Mexico by over twenty angry SHEILD agents, and in spite of the fact that he wanted to destroy all of them, he found that his body would not do as he told it. Odin's power over him was surprising to say the least. He had never thought that the old man had that great of an understanding of magic. Loki did have to admit the spells being used to control him were rather provincial, but that didn't mean they weren't powerful, and he was forced to submit to this lowly species for the second time in three days. It was both humiliating and infuriating.

After trying to stare the man with the eye patch down for nearly an hour he finally gave up and smirked at him instead. "Your eye must be desperately dry by now. I understand insects need to blink in order to keep their eyes moist." He paused when he didn't get a response, then dove in again. "Is that how you lost the other eye? You forgot to blink for too long and it dried up and fell out?"

Fury smiled darkly, "No. I lost it in a fight with a guy that was a lot more dangerous than the spoiled brat you are."

Loki's eyes squinted at the director with menace. "Is that so? For some reason I doubt that. No matter… Soon you will be wishing he took both your eyes, so you wouldn't have to see the end of your world." He smirked once more at the thought of the destruction he would soon be unleashing on this pathetic planet.

Fury's smile turned to one of mirth, and he quietly chuckled. "I think it's a lot more likely that I will be scraping you off the bottom of my boot."

Loki snarled, and turned to look out the window at the landscape passing beneath them. They had left the desert and were currently flying over a dense pine forest. As he looked out at the trees he noticed that the helicopter was slowly dropping, and realized they must be approaching their destination.

"Did you build a mountain hide-away after I destroyed your little compound?"

Fury raised his eyebrow, "No, we're taking you to your cell."

Loki pondered that for a moment. It was an odd place for a prison, but the Midgardians were odd creatures, so that didn't particularly surprise him. "So you have decided to lock me away for eternity." It was a statement, not a question, and he wasn't surprised when he didn't receive a response.

He looked back out the window and searched the area for a looming concrete building that wouldn't hold him for more than a day. He didn't see one however, and began to feel a tickle of confusion. This truly wasn't a normal place for a prison, in Midgard or Asgard, there would be roads leading to such a place, and he didn't see a small trail even. Perhaps his prison was specially built just for him. A lead cell in the middle of the forest where no one would ever find him. Somewhere where they could leave him to ever so slowly starve, forcing him to live for centuries in agony before he finally perished, completely forgotten by all the realms. The thought made a small shiver wrack his spine, and much to his chagrin Fury saw it, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Then he noticed a small clearing that housed a minuscule log cabin in its center. From this height it looked like something that belonged in the time when these people regarded him as a god, and he briefly wondered who would place him in such a building and hope to contain him. Odin may have taken his magic, but he was still fully endowed with his strength, and there were few human materials that could contain him. Logs were not one of those materials.

He waited to be sure that was their destination before he commented on it, but when he noticed that they were slowly lowering down right next to the house he could no longer contain his grin. He turned to the one-eyed man, "What a glorious prison you have constructed for me! How will I ever escape it?"

Fury turned to glare at him once more, his expression unreadable. "You'll see soon enough. You won't be going anywhere for a long time, ant."

Loki was going to give him a sharp rebuttal for calling him an ant, but the helicopter shook roughly, signaling the touchdown, and Fury quickly rose to his feet. "Follow me." he said, and Loki was forced to comply once more.

Once outside of the high-tech flying machine, he felt as though he had been thrust back in time. His observations from the sky had been incredibly accurate; this place belonged somewhere in Scandinavia about a thousand years back. The cabin was made of rough logs, and wasn't more than 16 feet square, with no signs of plumbing visible from outside. The cabin was surrounded by various plants, many of which were familiar to Loki due to their useful nature, and off to one side there was a large vegetable garden that was obviously seeing the end of its productive season. Next to that there was a chicken coop where he noticed the hens and the rooster clustered together watching the new people with their bead like eyes.

He openly smirked at the scene around him; it was simply too good to be true. Anyone that lived in a place like this would come to worship him just has those that lived like that in the past. He would be out of the area before dawn the following morning, of that he was sure. Or at least he was until he saw the woman of the housestep out into the sun. She was a small woman, especially by Aesir standards, but she was also rather pretty in a very non-Asgardian way. It wasn't her looks that stopped Loki's hopeful train of thought however, it was her eyes. Though they appeared to be a warm chocolate color, they looked like iron in that moment. There was no wonder or excitement at his appearance, and there most definitely was no flexibility in them. This was not a woman that would be swayed by his silver tongue in a matter of hours.

His thoughts were interrupted by the woman in question, who was almost completely ignoring him, focusing on Fury instead. "If you want him to stay here I suggest you give him some limitations on the area he can travel in, because I won't." Her voice was tinged with a faint accent he couldn't place, but he could recognize the contempt she spoke with. It was obvious she was no fan of the SHIELD director, which Loki immediately saw as an opportune twist of fate.

Before Fury could respond to her she spun on her heel and walked back into the small house, leaving the door open behind her. Loki assumed it was an unspoken invitation for him to enter the house once the SHEILD agents had left, but he wasn't able to dwell on that thought long as a scent wafted to him. It was a scent that brought him both joy and horror. It was the scent of magic, and it was coming from the woman in the house.

Fury roughly grabbed his shoulder and shook him to bring him back to his senses. "You will not leave this woman's property for any reason for as long as you are on this planet to serve out your punishment. Her land is your prison cell, and it is inescapable as long as I have power over you. You will also not harm her in order to free yourself, or for any other reason." Fury paused and glanced at the open door with annoyance. "She has declined control over you, but don't think you can do as you wish with her. Here you are still the ant, and she sure as hell is a damn big boot."

With that Fury strode back to the helicopter, leaving Loki alone in a piece of Midgard that was unchanged by time. Alone with a woman that had exactly what he needed, but had no hope of having for himself.


End file.
